Communication services providers, such as telecommunications and cable television service providers, generally interconnect a large number of electronic components for signal transmission and reception. Such components may include, for example, broadband headend equipment, node equipment, hub equipment, and any other devices for performing signal operations. Typically, the electronic equipment includes modules that are mounted within a chassis so that cables coupled to a particular module can be routed to one or more other modules that may be mounted within the same chassis or a different chassis.
Referring to FIG. 1, a conventional chassis 102 includes a frame 100 for holding a number of communication modules 105, each of which includes connectors 107 for receiving and transmitting electrical or optical signals. The connectors 107 may be, for instance, coaxial cable connectors. When the communication modules 105 are splitter/combiner modules, they typically input and output radio frequency signals.
As shown, the modules 105 are mounted adjacent to one another and facing in the same direction so that a technician need only access a single side, e.g., the front side, of the chassis for cable connection. The cables 110 are then coupled to the connectors 107 and routed to other equipment (not shown).
As can be seen in FIG. 1, the modules 105 may each include a large number of connectors 107. Therefore, once cables 110 have been connected to the modules 105, each individual cable can be very difficult to identify and to separate from the other cables. As a result, installation and removal of a cable to a particular connector of a particular module can be time consuming. Furthermore, given that each cable, connector, and module is somewhat similar in appearance, erroneous cable installation and removal are unlikely to be detected until electrical malfunctions or signal discontinuities result, after which the single erroneously-connected cable, which is grouped with a multitude of similar cables, must be located and correctly routed and connected.
Thus, what is needed is a cable management system for managing cables in a chassis.